Thread: Anyone here ever lived in China?

I have never served time!

Drive a Buick when in China. You'll be pimpin!

I've spent about 6 weeks in China, Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The people are very, very nice, the police are not.
The food was great, more rice in the south, potatoes in the north, lots of noodles everywhere.

Best advise is....Keep your nose clean......Keep an open mind.... especially in the countryside.
There you will see things you wont like, close your eyes, focus, it's not your fight.

Appreciate the insights! Keep em coming

well, my father was born in China (in the missionary). best advice he would ever give you is if the Japanese arrive, get the **** out.

My advisor at school wanted me to participate in the teach in China for the Summer program.

And I told her, I wasn't going to a commie country.

And she was like, these days, it's only a commie country in name.

And I was like, yeah, and these days, the Kings are only contenders in name, what's your point?

I'll be here all week peeps!

The only way you are going to get to watch hockey is via NHL Gamecenter or Slingbox.

As for movies, use dl torrent software before entering the country.



If you have never dealt with the Great Firewall of China, then heads up. FB, Google+, YT, Twitter, Amazon Kindle ebooks, iTune stores, among others are blocked in China unless you subscribe to a VPN or work for an international corporation with T1 bandwidth.

Don't buy anything without price tags without consulting with friends or locals on the actual price.

Don't ever have any discussions with locals regarding whether or not Tibet or Taiwan is part of China. In their minds, Taiwan isn't a separate country from China. Some of them will bait you into a conversation but just decline.

If you are in a smaller town and are not yet familiar with the local customs, don't try to be righteous over something you're not used to seeing in the developed world. A friend of mine tried to help a lady whom was getting beat up by her husband on the street in broad daylight, and my friend ended up getting run out of town because the husband had deep ties with the local mafia which is very common in smaller cities.

As in many developing countries, LOTS of gold diggers in the country so beware and take your time getting to know first.

Otherwise, enjoy the delicious lamb chops of Northern China!

A couple of points on redxalonso's post,
1) politics, its not that it's taboo, simply nobody talks about it because its just not a topic. Hong Kong people have had exposure to an investigative press and as a result are willing to gossip on a higher plane and about the injustice of not having a vote. Within mainland china it's extremely rare that politics rise above the provincial because not only can they not influence it, but there's literally nobody having that conversation. If that conversation happens its more likely to reflect a change in US status such as an election here, usually as an opening to congratulate you on your new president or something. It's meant as a pleasantry, not serious discourse. Kind of like the weather, its immutable.
2) the firewall is serious, don't even attempt to keep pace with the random picture thread while there unless you have a work around.
3) Also don't put anything on your computer unless you're not afraid someone else will have access to it. Unless your company vets the hardware as safe (and they are deluding themselves if they do) even corporate secrets are something I would be loathe to make mobile. I am not joking that I have had my bags gone through in front of me while I was pissing at a road stop. I came back and there was the driver in my laptop bag going through papers, I just kind of waved at him and he just kind of stepped back and got back into the drivers seat. He was a "recent hire" by the company and i never saw him again (he wasn't fired). For the most part I assume everyone in China knows the score, but don't assume anything you would prefer as protected here to protect you there.
4) them delicious lambchops...... if all you hear are dogs in cages barking and all they serves is lamb....

Good luck on the move and change of culture! I lived in that Provence for two years, but in DaLian.